CDT: Bill O’Brien Meets with Trustees to Discuss Modifying Sanctions

How to run a private meeting 101: Don’t have it in a room surrounded by glass walls. Penn State either didn’t get the memo or didn’t care, because when Bill O’Brien met with a group of trustees this morning at a meeting closed to the media and the public, Mike Dawson from the Centre Daily Times was there to see everything, including his powerpoint presentation.

According to Dawson’s report, the meeting lasted more than an hour. One of the slides had the heading “potential proposal to modify sanctions” and another had a heading about the impact of scholarship losses. One slide read “Individual lawsuits DO NOT help us,” presumably referring to Gov. Tom Corbett’s now dead lawsuit and the current lawsuit led by Joe Paterno’s family.

It was not clear what actions would be considered as a result of the meeting or if anything is planned. Four of the trustees who have signed on to the Paterno lawsuit — Pete Khoury, Anthony Lubrano, Adam Taliaferro, and Ryan McCombie — were at the closed door meeting, although none would comment to Dawson after the meeting was over. President Erickson and other trustees at the meeting also declined comment while leaving.

According to the report, O’Brien got a standing ovation after his presentation. He told Dawson upon leaving that he was “just here to say hello to some people” before being whisked away in a van.

It’s an interesting development, as an official meeting between O’Brien and the trustees has never been reported before. What happens next is being kept close to the chest, but it appears at the very least that Penn State is getting their chips together to find a way to work out a reduction in the NCAA sanctions.

The trustees are meeting right now at Penn State Fayette in Uniontown. Onward State is there and will try to get additional information after the meeting.

About Author

Kevin Horne was the editor of Onward State from 2012-2014, and currently holds the position of Managing Editor Emeritus. He graduated from Penn State with degrees journalism and political science in 2014 and is currently seeking his J.D. at the Penn State Dickinson School of Law. A third generation Penn Stater from Williamsport, Pa., Kevin is a director of the Nittany Valley Society 501(c)(3) and is involved in student government. Email: [email protected]